burst
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to break, break open, or fly apart with sudden violence.
The bitter cold caused the pipes to burst.
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to issue forth suddenly and forcibly, as from confinement or through an obstacle.
Oil burst to the surface. He burst through the doorway.
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to give sudden expression to or as if to emotion.
to burst into applause; to burst into tears.
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to be extremely full, as if ready to break open.
The house was bursting with people.
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to appear suddenly; become visible, audible, evident, etc., all at once.
The sun burst through the clouds.
verb (used with object)
noun
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an act or instance of bursting.
-
a sudden, intense display, as of activity, energy, or effort.
The car passed us with a burst of speed.
- Synonyms:
- spurt
-
a sudden expression or manifestation, as of emotion.
a burst of affection.
- Synonyms:
- outbreak
-
a sudden and violent issuing forth.
a burst of steam from the pipe.
- Synonyms:
- outbreak
-
Military.
-
the explosion of a projectile, especially in a specified place.
an air burst.
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a rapid sequence of shots fired by one pull on the trigger of an automatic weapon.
A burst from the machine gun shattered all the windows.
-
-
the result of bursting; breach; gap.
a burst in the dike.
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a sudden appearance or opening to view.
idioms
verb
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to break or cause to break open or apart suddenly and noisily, esp from internal pressure; explode
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(intr) to come, go, etc, suddenly and forcibly
he burst into the room
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(intr) to be full to the point of breaking open
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(intr) to give vent (to) suddenly or loudly
to burst into song
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to cause or suffer the rupture of
to burst a blood vessel
noun
-
a sudden breaking open or apart; explosion
-
a break; breach; rupture
-
a sudden display or increase of effort or action; spurt
a burst of speed
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a sudden and violent emission, occurrence, or outbreak
a burst of heavy rain
a burst of applause
-
a volley of fire from a weapon or weapons
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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burstsimple
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burstssimple
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have burstperfect
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have burstedperfect
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has burstperfect
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has burstedperfect
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am burstingprogressive
-
are burstingprogressive
-
is burstingprogressive
-
have been burstingperfect progressive
-
has been burstingperfect progressive
Past
-
burstsimple
-
burstedsimple
-
had burstperfect
-
had burstedperfect
-
was burstingprogressive
-
were burstingprogressive
-
had been burstingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of burst
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bersten, bursten, Old English berstan (past plural burston ), cognate with Old High German brestan ( German bersten ), Old Norse bresta; akin to break
Explanation
A burst is a sudden flurry of activity. Bursts of energy are helpful in shoveling heavy snow, but it's better if you work steadily instead of shoveling fast and stopping. As a verb, burst is your go-to action word to describe something sudden and energetic happening. It usually means, "to explode outward, with noise" like if you burst into song in the middle of study hall, startling everyone. It also means, “to split open in a violent way due to internal pressure” like an overfilled water balloon. It comes from the Old English word berstan, meaning "break suddenly."
Vocabulary lists containing burst
Language Gone Wrong: Words That Started Out as Errors
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Common Five-letter Words for Wordle, List 2
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
This burst coincided with the Eocene-Oligocene transition, a period marked by intense global cooling.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
His emotions — and that sticky goo in his wrists — are about to burst.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
And if the ball had burst the back of the net - it nearly did - I'd have caught it.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
The big question is whether soaring AI investment will eventually meet the same fate as the dot-com era, when the bubble burst and many companies failed.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
With each burst of breath, I feel better.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Instead, major changes often arrived in rapid bursts that lined up with shifts in Earth's climate.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
Still, he said, “when she dances, she looks so big. That’s her strength. Something just bursts out of her, doesn’t it? I think that’s why everyone is drawn to her.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
“Then the fantasy of that life bursts at the end of this scene, when her parents tell her they’re moving away. It felt the most on theme.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
The device was intended to study gamma-ray bursts, what Caputo called "the most energetic things that happen in the universe."
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
He reaches for my arm as I stalk down the path, frantically jimmying the stubborn gate until at once it bursts open.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Postal Service truck had slid 50 feet down an embankment, and the “box containing the frankfurters was bursted open and the contents strewn considerably,” Alexander wrote to a U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2025
“Cordage has collapsed like a bursted meteor,” reported the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, “and the other industrials have all of them shared to a considerable extent in the decline.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2024
It bursted out of TikTok and into the mainstream last month, when Shakira performed the “Jiggle Jiggle” dance on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2022
Minnesota bursted out to a 23-0 lead at halftime as Pittsburgh struggled on offense and with run defense.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2021
As the pollen is shed, beginning at the stem end, the pale yellow-green of the bursted pollen capsule turns dark or black, proceeding to the tip of the catkin.
From Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the 44th Annual Meeting Rochester, N.Y. August 31 and September 1, 1953 by Northern Nut Growers Association
I had long admired her, especially the rollicking and indispensable “Slow Days, Fast Company,” first published in 1977, a charming and insightful series of stories bursting with pluck and sass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Scaloni said he had not spoken to Messi, before bursting into tears himself then leaving the news conference.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
"Most of us had fallen asleep, we had closed our eyes. There was a noise, like a tyre bursting," a fellow passenger told Radio Thessaloniki.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Mr. David’s show is more of a bomb bursting in air.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
“Magic is everywhere. In the air, in the ground, in fire and water and the stars and clouds and the sun. The sun is bursting with magic. You pull it in from all around you.”
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
